Wednesday, September 1, 2010

A John Wayne moment

This is one of my favorite anecdotes about the actor, John "Duke" Wayne. In the early 1960's Duke and his wife were leaving a SHARE western themed benefit. From the book by The Duke's wife, Pilar, "My Life with the Duke":

"On our way home that night, Duke had an urgent need to use the men's room. He told our driver to stop at the next bar or restaurant. We pulled up in front of a run-down beer hall, and Duke uncoiled from the back seat. He strode through the establishment's front doors and disappeared from my view.

"Duke had dressed for the evening with special care. He wore silver-spurred boots, a matched pair of pearl-handled six-guns holstered snug against his hips, and a well-worn Stetson. He told me the men at the bar stared wide-eyed as he appeared in their midst. The only sound in the room was the k-ching, k-ching of his spurs as he strode to the restroom. When he emerged a few minutes later, the bar was still enveloped in silence. No one spoke as Duke walked back out the door, k-ching, k-chinging all the way.

"Duke got back in our limousine and exploded into laughter. After describing the scene he asked, "What the hell do you suppose those guys will tell their wives?" And then, being Duke, he went back into the bar and bought those men a round of drinks."

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